You’re working hard, things are going well, piece by piece you’ve built a life you are proud of, you’ve overcome obstacles and challenges, beat the odds and then you find yourself at the center of an unexpected dilemma – do you risk it all to keep growing? What if growing means leaving the job you worked so hard to get or the industry you worked so hard to break into? How we approach risk often has a huge bearing on our journey and so we’ve asked some of the brightest folks we know to share stories of risks they’ve taken.

Teo Santos

I always planned on going to medical school and becoming a doctor. So it’s wild that I am doing what I am doing because I never could have guessed or envisioned that this is where life would lead me. I graduated high school with my pharmacy tech and EMT licenses and worked in healthcare since my junior year of high school. Read more>> 

Lloyd Da Gh0ul

Pin pointing a risk I’ve taken is hard AF! 2 things about “Da Gh0ul” is I’m a risk taker and I like to gamble. In 1 particular instance, I took a risk to outreach to a different graphics artist for my cover art(even though I already had a DOPE friend/brother “Christian Boucher” doing my artwork). Not only did I not like the results of the artist reached out to, but they also stopped returning my calls/texts/emails about revisions I requested. All in all a lesson was learned. Which is don’t believe EVERY person who says they see, recognize, and respect your craft/vision. Some folks just do it for the money 🤑 Read more>>

Zohra

Leap of faith. Jump and you’ll land. Take the risk. Read more>>

Brandee Adams

I was born and raised in a small town in Utah, I had big dreams of leaving someday but never thought it was within reach. Once I graduated esthetics school my partner and I decided to take the leap and move to LA. I toured and interviewed with several studios and signed my apartment lease without seeing it in person. I knew I could only grow so much as a person and business owner in my hometown so if I wanted more, I had to change the way I did things, including where I lived. Read more>>

Tricord Music

Taking risk. Wow! Being an artist is a total risk taker. You cannot expect to progress and grow without taking risk. Different people make it to different levels based on the risk they are willing to take. Moving from the comfortabilty of a 9-5 to running your own buisness is a risk. Especially when that decision is to help you progress as an artist. Taking on events that cause you to travel long distance to make connections for your progress is risk taking. There are healthy and negative aspects of taking risk. Read more>>

Jamie Krakover

As someone with a knack for STEM, becoming a writer came more as a shock to me than anyone else. I was the kid that used to cry at the kitchen table when they sent story starters home from school because I thought my ideas were dumb. So when I started playing around with ideas and actually finished a full length book, I was bit surprised that I found myself wanting to pursue writing as more than a hobby and seek out traditional publishing. Read more>>

Simone Baccari

I tell you the story of a risk I am gonna take!!! Read more>>

Taylor Wells

In 2002 my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I left the rat race to open Prana Power Yoga ✨🙏🏻✨ in Newton, Massachusetts. I was in finishing my Doctoral Internship at Harvard University and my husband (then boyfriend) was working long hours at Bain Capital. Yoga had transformed us and changed our lives for the better by lifting the veil of illusion and we wanted to give the gift of yoga and transformation to others. Read more>>

Christine Stein

Throughout the ‘70s I was always interested in yoga practice and life philosophy from India. It was the times! In the early ‘80s I took a yoga class. The class was “Iyengar Yoga.” The yoga master was BKS iyengar. I fell in love with the way he taught the poses and yogic breathing techniques. Read more>>

Cavier Coleman

In order to be a successful individual, I believe taking risks is an action that has to be taken more than just once in a while. Looking back, one of the biggest risks I took was when I decided to move to New York City when I was 21 years old with no money or support, I put my dreams in my suitcase and betted on myself. Not too long after, I was approached by a top ten model agency where I was signed and given the opportunity to move to South Africa to be represented. Read more>>

Theresa Franke

From fish to my favorite mermaids, you’ll find unique painted visions of coastal beauty. My name is Theresa Franke, and I paint colorful, watery worlds in oils on canvas. Read more>>

Ivan Garcia

When there’s a vision there’s a risk. To be able to make things happen for the best or for the worst is part of my learning experiences that helped me reach new breaking limits in life and as an artist. The simple thought of never giving up will get you what you been manifesting for yourself. Read more>>

Leonardo Beltran

Working in the entertainment industry always involves risk. It might lack the glitz of live action, but animation is a career driven by passion. Personally, I’ve always understood this inherent risk. Animation constantly evolves and reinvents itself each decade. It’s far from a stable job; it demands constant hustle, adaptability to new technologies, and an unwavering commitment to self-improvement. Read more>>

Jenene Mckay Juliet Sosa

We started out catering company Til the Last Bite! in 2015 while I was working a full time job and enlisted her my sister who works in Cyber Security to join me on this crazy adventure. We would pair my food and wine for clients. We figured we should have our on wine to pair with my food. So we dove in to learn everything about the wine making process. We launched Til the Last Sip in January 2020 and three months in the pandemic came. Read more>>

Andrea Tutt

In the summer of 2022 I got a call from a friend with a photo of a commercial studio rental, ready to go. I know one thing right away, act now. I had been searching for over a year for ‘that’ spot. I needed what most Pilates studios would desire; room for multiple reformers, prop storage, and good natural light. What this place provided on top of all that was a neighborhood of brand new independent shops, a great urban resurgent vibe, and a hopping deli/coffee shop below. This is it. I called. Read more>>

Tenisha Patterson Brown

The biggest risk I have ever taken was betting on myself and becoming an entrepreneur. I had always envisioned being a doctor or lawyer but I never pictured myself as a business owner. Even throughout college I didn’t realize that my energy was too big for traditional corporate America. As a business management major, I learned how to major other peoples’ businesses not how to create my own. Read more>>

Adam Hoffman

I’ve moved a lot in my adult life. I moved to different cities for bigger and better gigs. After graduating college, I had the choice to join a touring band or work as a showband musician on a cruise ship. I knew I wanted to be a professional musician since I was very young, so I went to music school for jazz. After my audition with this touring band, I decided to work on a cruise ship. I had never seen the ocean, been out of the country, or even seen a cruise ship in person. Read more>>

Mays Mayhew

In the whirlwind of impending motherhood, I never fathomed a mere six weeks’ maternity leave would shatter my career trajectory. With aspirations reaching sky-high in an industry I loved, returning to work wasn’t as enjoyable as before. Read more>>

AmbiKa Sanjana

Risks place us in situations that make us uncomfortable, and through this discomfort, we learn lessons and life skills beyond the imaginable. Immigrating to a new country to pursue a career in styling has been the greatest risk worth taking, as it has challenged my resilience, perseverance, and determination to succeed in an industry where I’m underrepresented. I have learned many lessons along the way, but the most important lesson was using my multiculturalism background as an advantage – taking my experiences in different cultures, fashion trends, and styles to foster a more inclusive and diverse industry. Read more>>

Whitney Frost

In 2016 I graduated with my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I had already been offered a job at the community mental health center that I had previously interned at during my masters program so it seemed like the right progression for my career. I didn’t get to define what type of therapist I was or my niche population, I worked with anyone and everyone. This job provided me with fantastic training and experience that I still find useful in my practice today. Read more>>

Dave Pygon

After over two decades of leading teams, and working for three large organizations in different capacities I decided to go for it, I bet on myself. The summer of 2022, I started my own consulting company, Pygon ONE Consulting, began writing a book called, “Win the 16” – Principles and Strategies to Optimize your Day, and lastly created a podcast, Win the 16. Read more>>

Bryson Fields

Hell Yeah Salsa was born by me taking a risk on myself. In fact, the only reason I didn’t start this business in 2007 is because I wasn’t ready and I was actually a bit fearful to take that risk for many years. Oh, I would talk about it to my friends! I would dream about it after getting compliments on my salsa at a summertime backyard barbeque. Read more>>

Jon Oswald

Ten years ago I took risks almost daily. Unfortunately, most of them would be classified as “risky behaviors”. Read more>>

Paul Rudoi

I’ve been a musician all my life, singing and composing and educating and conducting for over a decade at this point. But I’ve also tried to connect that creative work in non-musical areas, such as starting a few businesses over the past few years. The most recent, Yokay Games, is a big risk because others have much more experience starting a tabletop gaming company. But I felt called to try my hand at it because I believe in what Yokay Games stands for. Read more>>

Allison Parr-Plasha

In 1997, one year out of graduate school I landed a wonderful job at Penn State University’s largest branch campus in Erie, Pa as a personal counselor/psychotherapist in their counseling department; nice salary, three months off in the summer, super cool college students and a gorgeous campus. It was a coveted job in our community and I was well aware that I was incredibly lucky to hold this position. However, as the years progressed so did my unhappiness. Burn out came upon me quickly which was starting to dip its toes in to depression. My dear college friend and several other sources suggested I look in to becoming a Life Coach. Read more>>

Stephanie Harper

In 2015 I resigned from my corporate job at US Bank and decided to start my own business in credit repair. There have been a lot of up’s and downs especially financially when the season gets slow. I’ve started over so many times. I was afraid of purchasing tax software however my credit repair business led me to take the risk. I’m glad I did my business has been successful! Read more>>

Brad & Kathy Walker

At the beginning of 2023, we had many folks telling us to put on the swap and show because Novi Snowmobile show is the same weekend and it would be convenient for our Canadian friends and out of state friends to attend both our show and Novi’s show. We weren’t sure if we wanted to take on the big task of putting on a swap and show for over 1,000 plus visitors/swappers. Even the track owner at Birch Run Speedway kept telling us “you HAVE to do this show”. Read more>>

Monece Starling

My entire life has been centered on taking a risk. Or as I would like to call it “taking a leap of faith.” There are three faith leaps that I’ve taken that were life changing moments for me. Read more>>

Ron Tyler Jr

So, picture this – it’s 2020, the world is in chaos, and along comes Covid-19 crashing the party. Yeah, that was the backdrop when I decided to take a leap of faith, right on the verge of realizing a dream – my very own production studio. Talk about timing, huh? Read more>>

Kimmen “Chef KB” Brown

A2D4Creations was started by taking a risk from all around. It started with a scholarship that I earned from school and a need to make more money. I received a scholarship in culinary that allowed me purchase my first trailer. During that time I was selling plates to my fellow teachers, and on the weekends, I was doing pop-ups out of my friends garage, then one day I decided to make the move and move to the main streets of the city, and started to set up there. that move came with trying to figure out what equipment would work and how I could make a menu that would work for the set up that I had which was my trailer pop out tables and a 10 x 10 10 with home size fires, and a portable flat top. Read more>>

MaryAnne Hoekstra

I think the biggest risk I’ve taken was starting my my own chocolate company. This was a dream that I’d had for a long time, but never thought I would be able to make it happen, or at best it could be a quaint thing that I do post-retirement some day. Read more>>

Greg Volker

I realized that if I was going to make it as an artist or musician I had to be all-in. No compromise. I was well on my way and then I got married to the wrong person. A great mom to our son and a great person, just not the person for me if I was going to be able to go all-in. RISK, as it is seen, was not what she wanted. So when our son was born I slowly but surely let my creative work slip away. Read more>>

Eugenia Diaz Rivero

I believe that going to art school itself is a risk. Choosing an education that allows you to learn and grow as an artist, as well as spending a fortune, without even knowing if you’re going to land a job related to your major, is a big risk. However, no risk, no reward. Even though it took me years to land a “steady/secure” job in which I apply my artistic abilities, I do not regret the path taken that leaded to it because those experiences shaped my work. Read more>>